Southern California -- this just in

Mother smoked meth, took iPad video before killings, police say

A Fresno woman took video of herself on an iPad as she smoked methamphetamine before shooting four family members and turning the gun on herself in a grisly murder-suicide case, police said Monday.

Aide Mendez, 23, killed her two children, 17-month-old Aliyah Echeverria and 3-year-old Isaiah Echeverria, as well as her boyfriend's cousin, Paul Medina, 27, police said. She then killed herself.

The violence was sparked Sunday morning after Mendez began arguing with the father of her two children, Eduardo Lopez, 33.

Lopez was found outside the family apartment building with a knife and gunshot wound and was in critical condition Monday, police told the Fresno Bee.

"We do know that drugs played a key role, but we don't know to what extent," Lt. Mark Salazar of the Fresno Police Department told the Bee. "She was seen prior to the shooting smoking methamphetamine. She recorded herself on an iPad showing her and Paul Medina smoking meth. We know the power of meth."

Mendez was found dead in the bathroom, police said, and the children were found in the bathtub.

A 7-year-old girl, described by police as a family friend, was inside the apartment when the shootings occurred but escaped unharmed.

Police Monday night were still trying to determine a motive for the rampage.